St Mary's Eco Group
As Christians we are called to look after all of God’s creation which not only includes being good stewards of this beautiful world, but also caring and loving those less fortunate than ourselves.
St Mary’s Church has had an Environmental Policy since 2011, but we felt that we needed to be more positive in our actions to encourage the whole of our church family to take seriously this responsibility and this sense of stewardship by making stronger connections between our faith and daily living. So, in March 2014 the St Mary’s Church Eco Group was formed and in June that year the PCC agreed for St Mary’s to register as an Eco Church with the award scheme provided by A-Rocha UK (https://arocha.org.uk/).
We encourage our worshipping community and as individuals to ‘live more lightly on this earth’. Such was our progress that in November 2014 we achieved a bronze award which was presented to us by the town mayor!
St Mary’s Church has had an Environmental Policy since 2011, but we felt that we needed to be more positive in our actions to encourage the whole of our church family to take seriously this responsibility and this sense of stewardship by making stronger connections between our faith and daily living. So, in March 2014 the St Mary’s Church Eco Group was formed and in June that year the PCC agreed for St Mary’s to register as an Eco Church with the award scheme provided by A-Rocha UK (https://arocha.org.uk/).
We encourage our worshipping community and as individuals to ‘live more lightly on this earth’. Such was our progress that in November 2014 we achieved a bronze award which was presented to us by the town mayor!
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Some of the actions we have taken include:
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In the church grounds, we garden organically and make a home for all wildlife with bird feeders, log piles, a hedgehog house, wild areas, bug hotels and houses, and also by planting bee attracting plants in the oak tree garden. The oak tree itself of course supports a great deal of wildlife too.
Our wildflower meadow is now well established, and the variety of species found are increasing year on year. The sensory garden is taking shape, and the Lenten Cross planted by our children appears annually around Lent and Eastertide – with Snowdrops appearing first and then daffodils (usually on cue!) to mark the Resurrection. 
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Our well-established annual Plant Sale includes a ‘Grow your own’ section and hints on gardening for wildlife are available, and often there is a ‘seed swop’ area.
Our annual Green Sunday is usually celebrated in June as near to World Environment Day as practical and over the years we have had many themes, for example: the plight of bees; reducing our use of plastic, reducing our carbon footprint, gardening for wildlife (with Cosmos seedlings being given out to members of the congregation to grow at home and encourage them with their wildlife gardening!) |
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The Junior Church have been active too, studying the Creation Story, having nature walks around the church grounds as well as presenting a short play about the importance of bees to the congregation on one of our Green Sundays. On another occasion they took the lead during a Green Sunday service to explore the importance of creepy crawlies in our gardens! |
Our efforts were rewarded in June 2020 when we gained our A-Rocha silver award, and our church grounds have also won several South and SE In-Bloom awards over the years too.
We would like to thank each and every one of you who have supported our endeavours, worked hard at our working parties, encouraged us on our way and joined in with our initiatives, resulting in us as a church receiving this recognition for our efforts. Very few churches in the Diocese have reached these ‘Eco heights’, so we are leading the way!
We would like to thank each and every one of you who have supported our endeavours, worked hard at our working parties, encouraged us on our way and joined in with our initiatives, resulting in us as a church receiving this recognition for our efforts. Very few churches in the Diocese have reached these ‘Eco heights’, so we are leading the way!
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We are now working towards the gold award, and we would love you to join us in our endeavours. If you would like to be part of the St Mary’s Eco Group, hear more about our projects, share your ideas of how we can be more green, please contact our Eco Champion Anne Stone ([email protected]) who heads up our Eco Group, or of course you could speak with Fr Adam ([email protected]).
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